Gay Marriage bill passes the Commons.

The Commons voted to pass the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill and it now goes off to be considered by the House of Lords. A brilliant example as it covers so many topics in one go!

133 Tories voted against it, showing divisions within the parties (Parties, Unit 1) and the importance of backbenchers (Parliament, Unit 2). It also shows Parliament working together with Labour, Lib Dems and Tories voting for the bill and is a great exmaple of how a bill becomes a law (Parliament, Unit 2). At the same time, pressure groups held demonstrations at Westminster against the bill including a woman trying to drive a car through the gates as the vote took place (Pressure Groups, Unit 1). Finally, with so many Tories opposing the bill, and with Cameron trying to undo the damage of one of his close aides referring to grass-roots activists as ‘swivel-eyed loons’, this article argues the gaps is growing between him and his party; great evidence both for and against the idea of the president as PM (Prime Minister and Cabinet, Unit 2).